Water, land, law and governance: an interdisciplinary dialogue  

Water, land, law and governance: an interdisciplinary dialogue  

Chair: Liliana Lizarazo Rodriguez, ERC Curiae Virides, MSC Mother Earth projects hosted by the Brussels School of Governance at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel  

This event will delve into critical topics such as land use change, pollution, and the struggles of Indigenous and local communities for environmental justice. These ecological conflicts can also trigger other forms of violence that extend beyond purely environmental discussions, impacting the human rights of affected communities. The role of law in addressing these conflicts is crucial, as is the need for diverse perspectives on human-nature relationships, particularly the incorporation of Indigenous knowledge to overcome these crises. 

Three documentaries will present case studies from Colombia, Bolivia, and Nepal. Following the presentations, a dialogue among scholars will underscore the potential and necessity for increased interdisciplinary collaboration to address the complex issues of global environmental crises and the unequal distribution of their burdens among populations. This dialogue will also emphasize the need for pluralistic views on the relationship between humans and nature. 

Law, Nature and the Anthropocene: A Co-Creative Audiovisual Journey 

In the face of overlapping crises—climate emergency, biodiversity loss, and major transformations in land use by extractive economies—the Anthropocene prompts us to reconsider the role of law. Traditionally rooted in Eurocentric liberal and colonial frameworks, law has often reinforced exclusionary practices and colonial legacies, undermining diverse ways of knowing and existing. This presentation highlights the necessity to move beyond anthropocentric legal paradigms and explore transformative perspectives that embrace the onto-epistemological diversity of human-nature relationships, underscoring the importance of Indigenous knowledge in shaping legal discourse. 

Snippets of two documentaries being produced as part of the Human Rights Beyond the Human series, within the ERC RIVERS project (2019-2025) will be shared:  

1.  Aty Seikuinduwa: Judge Between Worlds, follows Indigenous Arhuaca Judge Belkis Izquierdo of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace and her groundbreaking decisions recognizing Territory as a victim of armed conflict in Colombia.  

2. The second documentary explores the tensions between ancestral wisdom, nature's rights, and water extractivism in Nepal, amidst the expansion of the Marsyangdi Corridor Transmission Line.  

These documentaries exemplify participatory and co-creative methodologies aimed at informing legal practitioners who are involved in norm-making and policy making about the role of law in human-nature/environment relationships. 

Lieselotte Viaene is a legal and environmental anthropologist with a PhD in Law and is currently the Principal Investigator for the ERC project RIVERS-Water/human rights beyond the human? Indigenous water ontologies, plurilegal encounters and interlegal translation (2019-2025). With nearly twenty years of experience, she has worked in various contexts with Indigenous peoples in Peru, Guatemala, Ecuador, Colombia, and Nepal, from communities that survived genocide to national organizations and networks of Indigenous lawyers. Her research focuses on legal and environmental anthropology, legal pluralism, Indigenous peoples rights, transitional justice, the decolonization of human rights, and resource extraction. Additionally, she has worked as a human rights practitioner, including with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Ecuador. Recently, she ventured into research-based documentary filmmaking (Colombia and Nepal), collaborating in co-creative processes with local Indigenous film crews. 

Environmental justice asymmetries linked to water pollution in Indigenous Andean Communities in Lake Titicaca, Bolivia.  

Documentary: Humble waters 

This documentary showcases the experiences of an indigenous Andean community at Titicaca Lake. This documentary sheds light on the community's unique relationship with water, their struggles for environmental justice, and their efforts to uphold their human rights in the face of various socio-environmental pressures. The documentary provides an intimate and compelling narrative that further illustrates the intricate connections between water, justice, and human rights." 

Afnan Agramont is a researcher specializing in participatory water governance and  policy. His work focuses on addressing complex socio-environmental challenges related to water management, using a multidisciplinary approach that integrates science, policy, and community participation. He is currently implementing research projects in countries such as Rwanda, Kenya, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Bolivia through postdoctoral studies in the Department of Water and Climate at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium. Dr. Agramont holds a Ph.D. on Water Governance studies from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and a master's degree in Water Management and Governance from the UNESCO-IHE Institute in Delft, Netherlands.  

Photo: LViaene/ERC RIVERS, Nepal, 2024